χαλδ-αῖος G5466
Chaldeans, people from Chaldea (Babylonia), associated with astrology
The Chaldeans were a people group from the region of Babylonia, and in the Greco-Roman world the term also became associated with astrologers and diviners, since the Chaldeans were renowned for their astronomical and astrological expertise. Stephen uses this term in Acts when recounting Abraham's origins: God appeared to Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, bringing him out from 'the land of the Chaldeans.' This anchors Israel's patriarch in a specific historical and geographical context, the great civilization of ancient Babylonia.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The Chaldeans, an ethnic and geographical designation for people from the Babylonian region. Stephen mentions them in Acts 7:4 in his defense speech, recounting Abraham's call: 'he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.' The multilingual glosses—Spanish 'de los caldeos,' French 'Chaldéen,' English 'of the Chaldeans'—all preserve the ethnic-geographical reference. In classical sources 'Chaldean' also meant 'astrologer,' but here it simply identifies Abraham's place of origin in Mesopotamia. 1×
AR["الكَلْدَانِيِّينَ"]·ben["কলদীয়দের"]·DE["Χαλδαίων"]·EN["of-Chaldaioi"]·FR["Chaldéen"]·heb["כַּשְׂדִּים"]·HI["कस्दियों-की"]·ID["orang-Kasdim,"]·IT["Caldeo"]·jav["tiyang-Kaldéa,"]·KO["갈대아-사람들-의"]·PT["dos-caldeus"]·RU["халдейской"]·ES["de-los-Chaldaîoi"]·SW["ya-Wakaldayo"]·TR["Keldanilerin"]·urd["کلدیوں-کی"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
χαλδ-αῖος, ὁ, Chaldaean, Refs 5th c.BC+ __II astrologer, Refs 4th c.BC+ (since the Chaldaeans were given to astrology,Refs 5th c.BC+:—Χαλδαία (i.e. γῆ), ἡ, Chaldaea, Refs 2nd c.AD+:— Χαλδαϊκός, ή, όν, Chaldaean, γράμματα Refs 2nd c.AD+; ἱστορίαι, title of work by Berosus, Refs 1st c.AD+; μέθοδος, i.e. astrology, Refs 2nd c.AD+ see entry {Χαλδαϊκοῖς}: comparative -ώτεροςRefs adverb -κῶςRefs— Χαλδαϊστί, adverb in the Chaldaean language, LXX+1st c.AD+